


Immure

by orphan_account



Category: Durarara!!, shizaya - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Fighting, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Past Abuse, Sad, Slow Burn, Torture, Triggers, Violence, maybe smut, slight AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-11
Updated: 2016-11-08
Packaged: 2018-05-26 01:17:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 9
Words: 11,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6217972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Izaya is walking alone one night, when he's attacked and dragged to an underground 'training' facility. There he is chained to Shizuo Heiwajima. They are presented with two choices, join up and live, or separate and die.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic that I'm publishing.  
> I hope you enjoy ^.^

 

 

Chapter One

 

       It was a warm night. The kind that you only experience in the middle of August;when the cicadas cease their droning and the breeze wraps around your body like a warm hug. Such a breeze blew through the city of Ikebukuro just as the thought crossed Izaya’s mind. He was returning from one of his late-night deals with some fat old man who thought he ruled the world. Despite the revolting way the sweat dripped down the man’s shiny forehead, or how the buttons on his suit coat seemed to want to give up on life, Izaya found himself smiling when he thought of the man. He was human after all, and Izaya loved all his little humans. The warm fur on Izaya’s coat tickled his neck as the breeze blew through Ikebukuro and Izaya was reminded of the present. He wrenched himself from his thoughts and noticed that his feet had led him to the center of the large city, the most direct route to his apartment in Shibuya. Izaya didn’t take this way very often as it was also the most direct route to Shizuo Heiwajima’s apartment. The monster often worked late and came home angry. Izaya had learned early on to stay clear of this path when there was any chance of Shizuo also following it. Realizing his mistake much too late, he decided to continue on this way, but kept a keen eye out for Shizuo. Perhaps that was why he didn’t notice the shadows that creeped just at the end of his vision. He was looking for a tall man with blonde hair, not a stealthy shadow in the night. Slowly he noticed the feeling of being watched, the creeping spider crawl up his back that warned him to run. Sadly he had noticed too late and he felt a pair of strong hands grab him from behind. Caught off guard, he stumbled backwards and hit the mans chest. He seemed big, but Izaya was fast. He dropped his switchblade into his hand and made to swing back and cut the man who held his arms, but another set of hands darted out and knocked the blade from him. These hands were more stealthy, quicker, able to keep up with Izaya’s speed. It was these hands that pressed a cloth to Izaya’s mouth and nose, holding it there as Izaya thrashed until he slowly stopped struggling. The last thing Izaya saw as his vision blurred and swirled was a certain blonde-haired man across the road, staring at him in disbelief before hands reached out and grabbed him too.

 

      When Izaya awoke, he was first aware of being cold. The cold seeped through his jacket, cutting easily through his thin shirt and chilling his bones. Confused and unsteady, he gradually peeled open his eyes. The room he was lying in was bright, unbearably so. He had to close his eyes for a moment more before reopening them. The room was also white. There didn’t seem to be a spec of dirt in the place. Realization hit him like a shinkansen as he remembered what happened on the warm streets that night. He remembered how the lights of the city had seemed to swirl and dance as he fell, and he remembered watching helplessly as Shizuo also had a cloth pressed to his face forcefully. Izaya sat up with jerky movements, freezing when he heard the chink of chains. He looked down at his pale wrist and his eyes widened at the thick cuff that wrapped itself painfully around his skin. Following the chain, his eyes snaked along the short length until he realized just what he was attached to. Or rather, who. Shizuo Heiwajima lay not too far from him, slowly waking up as his eyelids fluttered and a groan escaped his lips. Izaya felt dread grow in the pit of his stomach, but placed his signature grin on his face anyway as Shizuo opened his golden eyes.

“Good morning, Shizu-chan!” He chirped, watching as Shizuo’s eyes refused to focus. _Strange_ he thought _chloroform isn’t normally that strong_.

“Wha-what...Flea?” Shizuo grunted, not moving from his position on the floor. His eyes still refused to focus and it was starting to worry Izaya. “Wha- where...are..we?” The beast continued, forming the words like it took immense concentration. Izaya felt his dread grow; Shizuo wasn’t the brightest, but he should be able to form sentences without having to think. Izaya was about to respond when a deep male voice suddenly sounded from nowhere and everywhere at once.

“Welcome to The Academy. We will now commence your training.” The voice said. It was a grating, gravely voice and Izaya immediately hated it. “We have drugged #40569 a bit heavier than the normal dosage as an added variable to this test.” The voice continued in a droning voice. Izaya decided to call him K, just to have a name for him. When he mentioned the heavier drugs, Izaya glanced at Shizuo. The beast was trying to sit up, succeeding but doing so slowly. Panic replaced the dread in Izaya’s stomach as he scrambled to his feet, trying to heave Shizuo up with him and just barely succeeding. Whatever was to come, Izaya knew it wasn’t good. A door on the opposite wall suddenly slid open, allowing two others to join the men in the small white room. The first was large, muscles bulging and strange tattoos covering his body. The other was small, lithe, skinny, and pale. He reminded Izaya of himself, but even Izaya wasn’t that skinny. Backing up, Izaya felt a familiar cool on his wrist. His switchblade. Why would they replace it after they stole it from him? Fear burned in his stomach more fiercely now, and he backed up more, dragging a confused Shizuo with him. Flicking out his blade, his pointed it at the two newcomers.

“Who are you; why are we here?” Izaya questioned in a voice hard as flint. His crimson eyes dripped with anger and venom, but his trademark smirk adorned his sharp features. The two across from him chuckled, the bigger cracking his thick knuckles. It filled the room with a disgusting popping noise as each joint cracked, increasing Izaya’s anxiety. Finally the smaller one spoke, his voice small and shrill.

“Who we are doesn’t matter, no one leaves this room until one pair is dead. Welcome to The Academy, boys.”


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

 

_“Who we are doesn’t matter, no one leaves this room until one pair is dead. Welcome to The Academy, boys.”_

      At these words Izaya backed up until his back hit the wall. It was hard and cold against his shoulder blades, stealing the warmth from his body. He slipped the blade from his sleeve and pointed it at the two men, assuming a defensive position. Shizuo still seemed confused as he flicked his unfocused gaze back and forth between Izaya and the other two. For a moment, everything stilled. Insane laughter echoed coldly in the room, bouncing off the concrete walls and cutting into Izaya’s skull. The other two seemed to communicate something with a few glances, and Izaya tensed. He prepared for the smaller one to attack him, it seemed the only reasonable way to attack. Shizuo would easily kill the small one, and Izaya could outsmart the bigger one. The moment of still was shattered as the other two sprung into action. It was now that Izaya noticed they weren’t chained together like he and Shizuo were. He only had a second to contemplate this before the bigger one ran into him at the speed of light. The air rushed out of his lungs as he was crushed against the wall behind him. His mind went blank for a moment, pain lacing up his body. Sparing a glance at Shizuo, he was struggling to locate the fast moving shrew that had attacked him. Izaya almost forgot about his own opponent and opened his mouth to call out to Shizuo. As he opened his jaw, a hard fist connected with his face. His head smacked to the side, hitting the wall with an audible _crack!_ Blood dripped from his nose and Izaya was sure it was broken. Remembering his blade, Izaya brought it up and sliced the man crushing him’s chest. It wasn’t a very deep slash, but it was enough to make the man stumble back. Izaya quickly put distance between him and the now red stained wall. Sparing another glance at Shizuo, he noted the man had a series of cuts crossing his body, but had finally caught his prey. Izaya turned back to his attacker. The brute had recovered rather quickly, and lunged at Izaya again. He easily dodged, slicing the mans arm as he leapt away. With an animalistic growl, the man turned and slammed both fists into Izaya’s stomach. _Shit!_ Izaya thought desperately as he smashed back into the wall. A choked cry escaped his lips as he felt his ribs crack. He slid down the wall, his feet no longer supporting him. Blood smeared the white wall as he fell. The thick and hot substance also dripped down his face from someplace on his head. For a moment Izaya struggled to regain his footing. His knife had slipped from his grip when he had collided with the wall. Izaya was used to having big open spaces to lay his traps and defeat his opponents, close quarters like this weren’t helpful to the raven. He struggled as the larger man approached him, seemingly even angrier than before. Blood was pouring from the mans arm, and Izaya knew he wouldn’t last much longer. He smirked as the bleeding man approached, still not able to get his footing. When the man finally reached him, a large hand closed around Izaya’s throat and lifted him from the ground. Izaya felt his lungs struggling as every breath he tried to take stuck in his throat. It was painful, more painful than hitting the wall had been. Izaya struggled, clawing at the mans grip and trying to tear the hands off of him. He glanced to Shizuo, noticing the blonde staring at him instead of his opponent. Speaking of, where was the shrew? Izaya’s gaze darted around the room until he spotted a still form crumpled on the ground. It had taken a while, and Shizuo was laced in deep cuts, but he had prevailed. Izaya’s smirk never left his face as the grip on his throat tightened. His throat and lungs burned, his vision was starting to go blurry at the edges. The clinking of a chain tore Izaya’s eyes away from his attacker and back to Shizuo, who was now approaching them with a confused expression. Shizuo grabbed the mans wrist and squeezed, twisting in a way that looked painful. A snap resonated throughout the room and the man dropped Izaya, clutching his now broken wrist. Izaya gulped in air, coughing and spluttering up blood from his damaged throat. He watched with tired eyes as Shizuo fought the brute. It took longer than normal, but the man eventually went down. Izaya scrambled to his feet and approached the pair. His presence caused Shizuo to pause in his beating of the man, staring at Izaya in bewilderment.

      “Flea? What are you doing?” Shizuo asked, his voice slightly more coherent than before. The drugs must have been wearing out.

      “Shut up, protozoan.” Izaya growled, his throat protesting his speech. Turning to the now beaten man on the ground, Izaya grabbed his shoulders and shook. “Why weren’t you two chained together?” He demanded, knowing the fight would have gone differently if Izaya hadn’t been attached to Shizuo’s dead weight. The man below him laughed, blood bubbling up from between his lips. It was then that Izaya realized that this was the same man that had captured him and brought him here.

      “We caught some more contestants, so our chains were removed.” The man growled, his voice higher than Izaya expected. With that last sentence, the mans eyes glazed over and his body stilled. Izaya growled and moved to get up, but his back screamed at him and he stopped. Shizuo stood next to him, obviously still confused. Izaya turned to the golden man, his smirk having been dropped and replaced by anger.

    “Why the hell did you save me back there, protozoan?” Izaya growled, confusion dancing with pain in his mind. He finally stood up, his limbs protesting the movement. Being stuck in this place was enough, but having the beast chained to him made it worse. It was only a matter of time before the beast killed him too, and Izaya wouldn’t be able to escape this time. Shizuo’s movements were sluggish as he shrugged, eyes still unfocused.

   “I didn’t want to deal with your dead weight.” Shizuo mumbled, turning to face the now closed door. “Do you think there’ll be more?” He asked, his body obviously tensing. Izaya opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by the grinding and monotonous drawl of K.

    “Test using #604, #605, and #40659, #40660 has been completed. #604 and #605 have lost, they will be removed. #40659 and #40660 shall be allowed rest for the night.” The voice from the celling resounded, and the tension slowly left the remaining pairs shoulders. At first Izaya tried to fight off the tiredness that infected his bones, but it wasn’t long until he had to sit down. Shizuo was the first to fall asleep, his body slumping against the wall. Izaya followed soon after, his eyelids sliding shut slowly.

 

     When Izaya opened his eyelids once again, the room was the first thing he noticed. The bodies of the other two had been removed, but the red stains still flooded the room, breaking the whiteness. He sat up, his body groaning and his ribs screaming. He looked down, noticing that his wounds had been wrapped and tended to while he was asleep. A creeping sensation clawed at his spine, the thought of someone touching him while he slept terrifying in its own way. Shizuo groaned next to him, pushing himself up. His eyes were even more unfocused then before, and the familiar sense of dread formed in Izaya’s gut.

   “Sh-Shizu-chan? Are you okay?” He asked, scooting away as the beast shook his head violently. He appeared to be trying to shake off the clouds of confusion that shrouded his vision and clogged his thoughts. Izaya knew immediately that Shizuo had been drugged again.

   “#40659 has received a higher dosage today. Please proceed into the next room.” K’s bored tone spoke. Suddenly there was another voice, not K, that resounded from the celling. It was higher, laced with insane laughter.

    “Try not to let Shizuo get killed, Izaya! He’ll slow you down!” The new voice rang out, using their names instead of numbers. Izaya couldn’t help but wonder if he knew him. His thoughts were interrupted by a door sliding open to his right. Eager to leave his current blood soaked room, he went to the enterance. Shizuo dragged behind him at a painfully slow pace. When Izaya finally reached the door, he stopped, frozen to his place. On each wall of the new room, there were holes. The holes were just the right size for dodge balls, and Izaya watched as a few balls shot out from the holes. At first glance they looked harmless, but halfway through their course they caught fire. The fire would continue until they hit the other wall and disappeared back into a hole on the other wall. Izaya made to back away, but Shizuo had finally made it over and bumped into Izaya, thrusting them both into the strange room. Panic flooded Izaya’s system as the door slid closed behind them with a soft click.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

 

Izaya stared at the door for what felt like an eternity, the dead weight that pulled at his cuff a terrifying reminder of his situation. Shizuo was struggling to stay upright and seemed even more confused than he had been yesterday. _Try not to let Shizuo get killed, Izaya! He’ll slow you down!_ The words of that man echoed through Izaya’s mind. His mind struggled fruitlessly to match the voice to a face. When he was unable, dread flooded his system. Izaya never knew he could be scared like this, never thought he could be _terrified_ by one of his precious humans. He had thought himself above them, too high to be threatened by them. Izaya had been captured before, been tortured before, Hell he even fought the monster of Ikebukuro for fun! None of that ever instilled in him the feeling of terror, of panic, until now. The very thought of those flaming spheres smashing into him, breaking his bones, and smashing his organs set him into full panic mode. Normally he would have been able to avoid them easily, twisting and turning between the projectiles like a bat in flight. Normally he could bend himself to match the swirling wind, wrapping the warm currents around himself. Normally he could escape, his beautiful dancing style of fight allowing him to allude his predator. Normally he was beautifully accurate. Today he had a very drugged Shizuo to look after. Bats cannot fly when chained to a rock. A loud _boom!_ jerked the bat from his thoughts. Turning back around, he saw that the spheres where getting closer, and that one had hit the wall right next to his head. His eyes narrowed as he observed the room, searching the opposite wall for another door. He noticed what seemed to be an opening in the white, and realized it was a small door that led to another white hallway. All he had to do was make it there.

“Come on, Shizu-chan! Let’s get to that door now~!” He called to Shizuo, struggling to yell above the sound of the spheres shooting. Shizuo attempted to focus on Izaya, but it was clear that it wasn’t working. Izaya felt a drop of sweat trail down his face. The room was hot, what with the giant fire balls. Sparing no time, Izaya hauled Shizuo’s slow body over and jumped into the barrage of spheres.

 

Izaya was managing at first, twisting at the right moments as he melted into his dance. Everything was going fine. That was until Shizuo entered the fray as well. A sudden tug on the cuff pulled Izaya into the path of an incoming sphere and he learned that they were metal and heavy. It crashed into his shoulder with a rather large crunching sound. He grimaced as pain raced up his shoulder into his collarbones and neck. Looking to his left he saw that Shizuo had fallen back, causing the tug. In his moment of distraction another metal sphere was thrown into his gut. Izaya let a groan escape his lips as he dropped. Blood trickled in streams out of his mouth, and he knew he had internal bleeding. His knees barely supported him, but the spheres weren’t being shot that low yet and he had a moment of rest. Shizuo wasn’t doing any better, but he surely couldn’t feel any of it as he was so heavily drugged. The sphere that had hit Izaya was still in flames, and it had burned through his shirt and singed his skin. It burned badly. The spheres had begun to lower in their paths, shooting closer and closer to the pair. Izaya narrowed his eyes at Shizuo. A plan was formulating in his mind. Why didn’t he just use Shizuo as a shield and run to the other side? The brute deserved it, tugging Izaya into the line of fire like that. Izaya hated him and didn’t care if it would hurt. He reached for Shizuo but a thought stopped him.

_Try not to let Shizuo get killed, Izaya! He’ll slow you down!_

The thought stopped his wandering hand in its journey. He couldn’t use Shizuo as a shield, he would get too hurt. He would slow Izaya down. Turning back to the projectiles, Izaya saw just in time to see another sphere being hurled. It raced towards them, much too low. It was headed straight for Shizuo’s head. With a growl Izaya lunched himself towards the beast, straight into the path of the projectile. If it hit Shizuo the beast would be knocked out could. Even he wasn’t invincible. The metal collided with his side, sending him skittering across the floor. The bat landed just inches away from Shizuo’s prone form. Blood trickled from the bat’s shoulder, clotting the dark fabric of his shirt with blood. The red substance bubbled from his lips, seeped from his torn side. It _hurt, dammit!_ Izaya was never supposed to hurt because of the brute, especially because he was protecting him! The bat pulled himself up just in time for another projectile to be shot at Shizuo. The brute attempted to move out of the way but the sphere hit his arm, snapping it like a twig. Shizuo grunted, that was the third time that arm had been hit. His other arm was fine, and he couldn’t figure out why one arm hurt. There seemed to be stuff flying at him and the flea, but he couldn’t see enough to know. Another pop sounded as another sphere was launched at them. The bat once again thrust himself in front of Shizuo after it became obvious he wasn’t going to move on his own. This one hit his small body in the thigh. His leg crunched and he crumpled once again. Pain radiated through his body. He didn’t want to get back up, but spheres were still flying. Shizuo seemed to get the hint and they were making painfully slow progress towards the door. Forcing his body back up, Izaya limped towards the door, only able to move as fast as the drugged Shizuo. In his pain laced mind he noticed Shizuo seemed to be able to focus better now and was moving faster. Another projectile launched at Shizuo and the raven pushed Shizuo forward as much as he could with on arm, hoping the sphere would miss them both. Izaya may be fast, but his body was small and skinny, his bones broke easily. As much as he denied it, Izaya was painfully human. The sphere hit the chain between the cuffs, dragging them down with it. Izaya fell first, easily dragged off his feet. Shizuo fell next, crushing the flea underneath him. His vision was still blurry but his thoughts were clearer now. The beast had become aware a while ago that the flea was taking hits for him. At first he had enjoyed watching the way the flea choked on his own screams and blood. He had thought the flea deserved it. Actually, the flea had deserved it. He deserved every second of the torture that hit his body. But after a while, the display became painful to watch. The way thick red bubbled at his lips became grotesque, the barely contained screams suddenly too loud. Shizuo forced his slow body off the flea. Shizuo noted that the flea’s blurry form didn’t move and fear shot through his body. Poking him, Shizuo tried to rouse the flea. When he touched the flea’s shoulder, it bent awkwardly under his finger. Shizuo felt bile rise to his throat as he realized that the flea’s shoulder was completely smashed. Shizuo poked him again.

“Oi, Flea, get up. We gotta go.” He said, feeling yet another sphere hit him. His words were slurred as if he were drunk. It was as if he was feeling everything through a thick layer of plastic. It hit, but didn’t hurt. He could feel his bones break, could hear it, but it didn’t hurt. Another glance at the flea revealed Shizuo’s worst nightmare at the moment; the flea was unconscious. Picking up the dark haired man, Shizuo began to slowly and sloppily make his way towards the exit. He wanted to leave, and he needed the flea to do that. Izaya was smart in ways that Shizuo could never dream of, and would probably think of a way out of this. Spheres crashed into him and burned his skin and clothes, but he kept walking. He kept walking until he reached the small door and squeezed through it. He kept walking until the white of the hallway threatened him. He kept walking until his legs gave out and he dropped to the ground, the flea rolling out of his arms. It was only when his body crashed to the ground that Shizuo stopped walking.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This took so long I'm so sorry. I'm really busy and kept rewriting it and I'm not really happy with it. Sorry. Anyhow here it is, enjoy!

_Beep..Beep.......Beep...Beep_

 

His head hurt. His body hurt. He wanted to sleep longer. He closed his eyes, letting the slow drone of harsh beeps lull him back into unconsciousness.

 

_Thud..beep..Thud..beep...Thud..beep..Thud..beep_

 

His head still hurt. His body still hurt. He still wanted to sleep longer. He opened his eyes, letting the slow drone of heavy thumps drag him out of unconsciousness. Izaya was hit first by the extreme amount of white that surrounded him. He quickly squeezed his eyes shut once more, mentally preparing. Desperately he tried to remember what had happened before he woke up, but his memory was torn. Random images flew across his vision until he finally pieced together where he was and what was going on. Peeling his eyes open once more, he averted his gaze to the source of the thumping. His crimson eyes settled upon the hulking form of Shizuo who didn’t seem so drugged anymore. The brute was punching the wall in regular intervals, each thud being rewarded with a small beep from the cuff around his neck and a wince from the man. He pushed himself up, off the floor. His body was stiff and he hurt everywhere, but he noticed a specific concentration of pain focused on his face. The bat raised his pale fingers to his lips, coming away with blood. His eyes widened and he touched his lips once again. This time he noticed the course, thick thread that dipped into his skin only to reappear on the other side of his lips. A small noise of fear escaped him, muffled by his own lips. Izaya raised his other hand to his lips, familiar dread flooding his gut when he discovered the wiry thread had sealed his entire mouth shut. At this point Shizuo turned around, staring at the bat with detached curiosity. Izaya flicked his eyes up to the other male, noticing how red the beasts eyes were. The monster looked like he hadn’t slept in days, his clothes rumpled and his hair sticking in random directions. Izaya’s focus only remained on his for a few moments however, and he soon went back to trying to figure a way out of his mouth seal.

“They did it while you slept. Said it was punishment for failing the last test.” The brute finally spoke, his voice rough and low. “They said that we were supposed to keep each other from passing out, so technically we both failed.” He added, more to himself than to Izaya. At this the bat looked up, slowly getting to his feet. For a moment he tried to open his mouth to speak, the pain that flared a redundant reminder of the truth. Angrily Izaya stopped pulling on his restraints, choosing instead to march up to Shizuo and poke him harshly with a pointed finger. _Where’s your ‘punishment’ then, you monster?’_ Izaya wanted to scream, but all he could do was look up with Shizuo with what he hoped was rage in his eyes.

“You wanna know what they did to me?” Shizuo asked, his golden eyebrows drawing together for a moment. At Izaya’s waiting silence, he chuckled. “They shocked me with this-“ He tugged on his neck cuff, “-For nearly two days straight. After that it would only shock if I tried to get out of this room.” The man finished. That would explain the sleep deprivation. Izaya couldn’t help the muffled chuckle at the fact that he had tried to leave this room even after getting shocked. Shizuo never had done what people wanted him to. Turning, Izaya searched the wall. Normally the doors had been nearly impossible to see, but if you looked close enough you could spot the small break in the white where the door hinged. When the smaller man couldn’t find the split, he resorted to running his hand along the hard wall. His body protested the movement walking required, but he ignored it. Izaya was, after all, extremely good at hiding pain. Shizuo had hit him many times with objects never meant to come in contact with human bodies in such a way. While it always hurt like all hell, and he could always feel his newly broken bones shifted just under his skin; Izaya had always picked himself back up with a trademark smirk. It was what he did. The bat was wrenched from his thoughts when his fingers glanced against a barely noticeable shift in the wall. Stepping back, he motioned to Shizuo to follow him. In his weakened state, Izaya wouldn’t be able to fight very well, and so he needed Shizuo to come along with him. Placing his hands back on the wall that he hoped was a door, the bat pushed. His muscles screamed at him to stop, but he pushed harder. After a moment, the wall shifted. Izaya smirked, sliding the door to the side with a smirk.

 

The door slid open with a crunching noise, letting in a rush of terrifyingly cold air with it. The frigid air bit through Izaya’s coat, and he could feel Shizuo shiver next to him. Looking out into the land beyond the door, Izaya felt shock infiltrate his system and for once it showed on his face. Before them lay an icy landscape, snow flying and covering the world before them. Evergreens and other pine trees decorated the land, the only light emanating from the room behind them. Izaya could already feel his face freezing, and his shock mixed with fear within him. When the initial shock of the frozen land before them faded, Izaya quickly took a few steps back. He watched as the light from the door slowly slid back and he turned to run inside before the door could fully close. Shizuo watched him with a confused expression. He thought it was strange the flea would want to go back in there. Out here they were free, weren’t they? Hadn’t they found their way out? It was only when a small droid zoomed around the corner of the building and came to a fluttering stop before him did he realize what was wrong. They weren’t free. They were probably miles away from civilization, and the people who put them into that building had meant for them to get out. The droid before them was simple. It was sleek, white of course, and had one giant lens that could be compared to an eye. It was shaped like a bean, and there was no other way to describe it. It seemed to hand in the air, but the soft whirring it made informed Shizuo that it was floating by itself. Izaya turned back around from leaning on the now closed door, his lips garish in the low light. Shizuo found himself staring. The flea had been unconscious for days. Shizuo remembered the way his limp body had looked so small. The flea had looked so broken, his chest dipping in at places where ribs had broken. He hadn’t even moved at all when they threaded the wire through his lips, just hung there limply as his speech was stolen from him. Shizuo had figured out why they did it. Izaya had been known for his silver tongue and the way he could manipulate people. Without his words he had nothing in this place. It left the flea vulnerable.

“Congratulations,#40659, and #40660! You have made it past the first environment!” The monotone voice of the droid kicked Shizuo out of his thoughts, his head whipping back around to the small floating object. Its voice had been pieced together, some parts high and feminine, others low and masculine. Altogether it was eery. “In this environment, you will be required to kill _five_ other contestants! Only after that you will be able to leave! Hurry, you don’t want to freeze out here! My name is..” The droid paused, the whirring noise growing louder for a moment. “ _Tonbo23_. That’s right! Tonbo23 at your service! I’ll be recording you for the masses! Impress them and they might give you gifts!” It finally said. Shizuo was still trying to get over the whole ‘kill five people to escape’ factor. He himself had never killed anyone, although he wasn’t to sure about the flea. Speaking of the flea, he counted as one of the five, right? So this would be an excuse to get rid of him, right? Shizuo felt a smirk grow on his face and he cracked his knuckles, glaring at the back of the flea’s head.

“Oh! Forgot to mention, you can’t kill each other as both of you need to leave the island together. So keep each other alive, ok? Good luck!” _Shit._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here's a ref for the drone: http://www.bumped.org/psublog/pso2-mag-concept-and-phantasy-star-series-blog-opens/ {First image}


	5. Chapter 5 (rewritten)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> REWRITTEN!! PLEASE READ THIS VERSION

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had to rewrite both chapter 5 and chapter 6 due to some plot inconsistencies, so here's chapter 5! It's a bit different from the last version, so please read it! Thanks!

Chapter Five

 

Izaya’s head was spinning. His mouth pulsed in pain, and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t ignore it. The information received in such a short amount of time normally wouldn’t have bothered him. Izaya was like a sponge, soaking everything in with ease; but even sponges have a limit. He was at his limit. Trying to calm down, he decided to repeat the facts to himself.

He was kidnapped some time ago, how long he didn’t know. He had woken up in a strange facility with a drugged Shizuo. He had reached outside of that facility. His lips were sewn shut. He was chained to Shizuo Heiwajima. They were in Russia, most likely. Siberian Russia. There was no escape. He was trapped here. He was going to die. He was going to die. Shizuo was going to kill him. He was going to die.

Izaya shook his head violently, trying to force the thoughts out of his mind. Now was no time to think of such things. Once he had calmed down slightly, he noticed how the sharp cold air bit through his jacket. Pushing himself away from the door he had been resting on, he flipped up his hood and shoved his freezing fingers into his pockets. Already his feet were stinging, his face turning pink. The snow was hard to work with, trapping his feet when he tried to walk and slowing his movements. He stared transfixed at the snow as he moved. It acted like sand, the fresh snow easily pushed and foaming up around his legs. Despite all of this, he couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the strange substance was. His thoughts were abruptly cut off when he felt a sharp tug at his wrist. It threw him off balance, and he couldn’t find purchase in the deep snow. Falling forward, he ended up face down ass up in the cold flakes. He could hear Shizuo laughing at him, but the sound was muffled by the snow around his head. If Izaya didn’t know what freezing snow in the face felt like, he did now. It hurt like a bitch. He suddenly felt his body be lifted up, and for a moment he struggled before he was plopped back down into the snow, this time managing to keep his balance. He glared up at Shizuo, ready to give the blond a sharp reprimand for laughing at him. He was stopped by the ever-present tugging at his lips. Huffing out his nose, Izaya turned quickly and continued on his way, making sure the beast followed this time. They would need to find shelter and build a fire soon.

 

Izaya’s feet had lost all feeling by now, and his fingers weren’t much better. His nose was running and his ears stung despite the furry hood that swathed his head. Sometimes Shizuo would lag behind, distracted by something, and Izaya would have to tug at the chain to remind him to keep moving. He didn’t know why Shizuo hadn’t snapped the damn thing yet. Then it hit him. Shizuo’s collar. It would zap him if he tried something like that. Izaya had forgotten that Shizuo had also received a punishment. Letting a muffled growl escape his throat, he turned suddenly. They had spotted a rocky outcrop not too far ahead, where they could take shelter. It was hard to communicate without words, but they managed. Shizuo had only tried to kill him a few times so far; which Izaya counted as a record for them. Shizuo apparently hadn’t noticed Izaya’s turn and stop, and nearly ran into the smaller man. This earned another annoyed growl from the man. Taking a deep breath through his nose, Izaya thought for a moment how to get his point across. Turning to face Shizuo fully, he started to empty his pockets. There wasn’t much in them, considering he enjoyed packing light plus most of his stuff had been confiscated. One of his many phones, followed by a pad of paper, a pen, and a wallet. His knife was still tucked neatly into his sleeve, and he refused to reveal it to Shizuo. After he finished emptying his pockets, he pointed to Shizuo. _Your turn._ He thought. He figured that if Shizuo had something that was the right shape, he could pick the cuffs. Shizuo stared at him for a few moments before he seemed to understand. He started to empty his pockets as well. His were deeper and held much more. A pencil that was basically a nub, a receipt, an old phone, some headphones, a random stone, and a paper clip all came pouring out of his pockets. His wallet was no where to be found, Izaya noticed. Strange. When the paper clip came out, Izaya leaped at it. If he could bend it right...there! He eagerly stuck the end of the metal object into the lock hole of the cuffs on his side. The droid that was following them zoomed up, trying to get a better angle of what he was doing. Izaya found himself annoyed by it, but quickly forgot as the cuff unlocked and fell off. Shizuo was gaping at him, a confused expression on his fate. Izaya nearly laughed at it. How could a monster have such a human reaction? How would Shizuo act if he knew where Izaya had learned that? What would he do if he knew just how many times Izaya had been chained to something. The bitter laugh bubbled and died in his throat as he slowly approached Shizuo. Silently, muscles tense, he repeated the progress with Shizuo’s bands. Contented, Izaya turned back around and kept walking, not checking if Shizuo was following.

 

Shizuo angrily followed the flea in front of him. The black of Izaya’s outfit stood out starkly against their white landscape. It pissed him off. Izaya’s shoulders were hunched, and his shoulders were shaking slightly with cold. It pissed him off. The stitched over Izaya’s mouth kept him silent. It pissed him off. Everything that Izaya was doing, and not doing, seemed to piss Shizuo off. He just wanted to bash his head into a tree, but Shizuo knew that he needed the flea if he wanted to survive out here. And _that_ pisses Shizuo off. The cold was biting through his thin clothes, but Shizuo had always run hot so it didn’t affect him as much as it really should. The beast sighed, plodding along after Izaya without much enthusiasm. He was tired, his muscles ached from the constant shocks that had wracked his system just a few hours ago. He hadn’t slept much while Izaya was unconscious, mostly because of the constant pain. Although he couldn’t really feel them anymore, he registered that his legs were heavy. Looking up, he noticed they were much closer to the rocky outcropping than he had thought. A wash of relief crashed over him as he saw that it, indeed, had a small cave in which they could rest. The wind was picking up, swirling the snow in a way that would have been beautiful if not for the biting cold. Seeing was harder now, and he would have lost sight of Izaya if it wasn’t for the mans stark black clothing. Suddenly he saw Izaya tense, looking around warily. Shizuo decided to stop as well at that point, tense and ready to fight. Surely there were other people close by, right? Their objective was to kill others. A shiver wracked down Shizuo’s spine at the thought of such an action. He despised violence, and had never actually killed someone. He had maimed and hurt and broken, but the one thing Shizuo Heiwajima had never done was kill someone. Izaya seemed to relax some and continued walking, but Shizuo could tell the bat was still on edge. It pissed him off. The flea should just fuck off and die already. He should have all the bones in his body broken, and then die. No, he should have the worst thing imaginable happen to him before he died. Shizuo smiled at the thought. His thoughts were violently cut off, however, when he felt something sharp and painful wrap around his right ankle. Before he could even cry out, Shizuo was hoisted into the air, suspended by one of the huge trees that dominated the area. A painful length of sharp barbed wire was wrapped around his ankle, cutting his skin and bleeding. Shizuo looked down at the now upside-down world just in time to see two big, strange men materialize out of seemingly no where and tackle the unsuspecting Izaya to the ground. They had come from both sides, one knocking the fleas legs out from under him while the other secured his upper half, successfully pinning him to the cold snow. The panic on Izaya’s face was enough to make Shizuo regret his previous thoughts with a passion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Six will be out tomorrow, but I have stuff to do now.


	6. Chapter 6 REWRITE

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> !!! Trigger Warning !!!
> 
> This chapter has rape/non-con vibes and themes!! Along with some mild gore, although I try to keep it to a minimum! You do not have to read this chapter if you are not comfortable!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !!! Trigger warning !!!
> 
> Please, if you are not comfortable with rape/mild gore, please do not read this chapter. Just understand that Izaya goes through some shit and proceed to the next chapter!

Chapter Six

 

Izaya had been walking along, the sight of the cave just ahead driving his frozen limbs forward. As he neared, he started noticing things weren’t right. He strained his eyes, noticing that the cave had signs of being lived in. Sudden realization hit his body when he noticed the recently put out fire, hanging meat, and other various signs of life. A sudden shout from Shizuo and the sound of wire winding against bark solidified his fears. Izaya barely had time to register what was happening before another body smashed into his chest, while another grabbed his legs to throw him off balance. His body twisted painfully and before he knew it he was pinned down in the snow, his attackers silouetted against the fading light. The flea hadn’t even noticed the sun going down until now; the way it spun its golden tendrils through the sky and painted the white landscape with color. The sunset only glanced on his thoughts for a moment before a rough hand on his jaw brought him back to the present. Focusing his eyes, he noticed that the two men were definitely _not_ Japanese. They had big noses, big eyes, big ears, big everything. They were shouting in a language Izaya recognized as English, but of course Izaya could never hope to speak back. It was about now they seemed to notice what Izaya himself looked like. Being of a slight, petite build with nothing but lean muscle, Izaya was no stranger to comments on his looks. It helped that he had a pretty face, too.

 _“Hah-! Look at this guy! He’s pretty enough to be a girl if ya’ squinted!”_ One of the men exclaimed. He had long, dirty blonde hair, with a crooked nose and a scraggy beard. If Izaya didn’t focus, the guy looked like an older, scruffier Shizuo. Thoughts raced through Izaya’s mind at millions of miles per hour, and he began to struggle. It didn’t do much, his legs were being straddled along his his waist, his arms pinned down above his head. His racing thoughts settled on one memory; a phrase said just before he was stabbed some months ago. _You know Izaya, you’re too handsome for your own good._ He never saw the man that had stabbed him, but the situation felt a lot like this one. The bat was powerless to whatever these men wanted to do, just as he had been powerless then; bleeding out on the pavement. His eyes snapped back to attention when the second man; slightly less scruffy with deep brown hair and striking blue eyes; spoke.

 _“Yeah, he ain’t bad. But look at his mouth! It’s fucked to hell! Wonder who got to him,”_ The man growled, grabbing Izaya’s jaw and twisting his head into different angles. The mans position on his legs forced him to lean forward to grab the bats jaw, and Izaya took full advantage of the balance shift. Freeing one of his legs, he kicked the man in the chest. Izaya had put all his strength into that kick, and it sent the man tumbling off his legs and into the snow. He heard the blonde man growl from above him. Once again he struggled to be released from his grip but the grip was iron and the man heavily outweighed him.

 _“Look here, rice-ball! You aren’t in the position to try things like that.”_ Izaya heard the brunette mutter from much closer than he would like, _“We gotta punish you somehow, yeah? Maybe now you’ll think twice about kicking.”_ With his limited English knowledge, Izaya immediately knew he had fucked up. Big time. The faint noise of a knife scraping against sheath was heard before blinding pain erupted in Izaya’s thigh. A muffled scream erupted from his throat, failing at his lips. His back arched, unfortunately straight into the blonde man. It was only now that Izaya noticed the mans hardening erection. If he had been panicking earlier, he was now in full out terror. He pushed against the hand holding his wrists down, but it wouldn’t budge.

 _“Hey, what do you say we have some fun with him first?”_ The blonde growled, lowering closer and closer to Izaya’s face, _“He is pretty, after all.”_ With that the man lowered himself to Izaya’s face, gross hot breath blowing in puffs onto the ravens cheeks. The blonde trailed down to Izaya’s barely visible collarbone, where he bit down hard enough to make Izaya bleed. The squeak that escaped Izaya’s throat was one of pure terror and he was glad that it was muffled by his sealed lips and Shizuo’s distant struggles with his confines.

 _“I don’t see why not. He’s practically begging for it, with a body like that,”_ The brunette responded in a husky voice. Izaya went to move his leg, but felt the knife grate against his femur. The small movement seemed to remind the men of the knife and the brunette ripped it back out, causing a scream once more rip itself out of Izaya’s throat.

 _“Flip ‘im over.”_ The blonde said, finally heaving himself off of Izaya’s chest. In the moment he was released Izaya attempted to make a run for it. Before he could get his feet under him a strong hand closed around his throat and flung him to the ground once more. His leg buzzed with pain, his mouth pulsated with a detached, numb heartbeat. He could distantly hear the beep of Shizuo’s collar shocking him, but his focus was far from that. The hand remained on his throat, not enough to choke but enough to keep him down. His chest and head were being pushed into the snow, the rest of him laying limply in the melting substance. Another hand grasped his wrists once more, pinning them back above his head. He stared as far as he could ahead, only to see the brunette kneeling in front of his hands, holding something out of Izaya’s range of sight. A flash of silver was all Izaya saw before his hands screamed with pain, a knife now sticking out of them and pinning them to the ground. Izaya felt his hands twitch with every beat of his heart. His attention only lingered there for a moment before the hand that had been holding his wrists together; which Izaya assumed was the blondes hand; now gripped his hair and forced his head up. Izaya’s neck bent at an awkward angle that would have hurt if it hadn’t been for the other factors. The blonde had released his neck. When, Izaya didn’t know. Everything was confusing and terrifying right now. He now felt that same hand snake under his waist, causing more terror to flood his body. The man lifted his waist, leaving him in a horrible mock of the ‘downward dog’ on his knees. After securing his waist, the hand snaked up and under Izaya’s jacket and shirt. Izaya felt like throwing up, but swallowed because that was _not_ what he needed right now. The hand snaked back down, fumbling with his belt. Somewhere in the distance Izaya hear a sharp snap and a heavy thump. He didn’t register it as important as the hand started to yank his pants down. The next sound was a shout and a struggle before he heard the crunch of bones breaking and yet another thump. His brain barely registered what was happening when the presence behind him was yanked away. Izaya collapsed, his waist thumping back onto the snow. A second later he saw the blonde man fly across the sky, slamming into the rock ahead. Desperately Izaya struggled with the knife, wanting nothing more than to yank his pants back up and forget this ever happened. He heard footsteps crunching closer, and glanced up to the Shizuo’s black dress shoes and the start of his pants. Curse the beast for being so tall. Shizuo crouched down next to Izaya, who was still trying desperately to free himself.

“I’m sorry, this is gonna hurt a lot,” Shizuo said, steadying his shaking hands as he gripped the knife handle. The sight was gruesome, red welling up from the palms and spilling onto the snow. With a deep breath, he yanked it out, earning a muffled shout from Izaya. Shizuo had never seen Izaya like this. The flea was shaking, tears leaking out of his eyes. Izaya’s eyes were wide and terrified, his breath coming in ragged gasps. The first thing the flea did once he was freed was to pull his dark jeans back up his hips. His hands wouldn’t cooperate to redo the belt, so he left that open. Every movement was agony, every twitch like Hell. He barely even registered it when the world went black, or when strong arms caught him on his way back to the ground.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took so long. I was gonna upload it yesterday but some bad shit happened within my friend group and I had to leave my computer for most of the night. I don't want to bore you all with my life, so just understand that I should be up sooner next time!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> EEEhhhhhh i'm a pile of traaassshhhh

Chapter 7

 

          The wire wrapped around Shizuo’s ankle cut deep. Each movement he made caused the barbs to gore into the muscle, bringing cascades of blood with them. He could hear gross, wet noises from somewhere on the ground and he hated to think about what was happening just below him. Shizuo struggled, trying desperately to get a grip on the wire holding him up. His hands were bloody and slippery, cuts scattered over his palms where he attempted to grasp the wire. Every time he seemed to get a good grip a shock of pain would radiate through his body from his collar and force him to drop it again. Whatever torture Shizuo was experiencing right now was probably nothing compared to Izaya’s. This thought alone made him fight against the wire. It was supposed to be _him_ that broke the flea. No one else was allowed to touch him! Shizuo didn’t know when this stalker-like obsession had set in but he had a feeling it had been there for a while. The muffled cries that struggled to leave Izaya’s lips grated painfully against Shizuo’s ears like sandpaper. With a grunt, Shizuo grasped the wire tightly, preparing for the incoming _zap_ from the collar. None came. He waited a moment, but the collar didn’t beep and no pain came. With a feral growl Shizuo ripped the wire in two. It broke like paper now that he could keep his grip. The man thumped to the ground heavily, hating the way the snow burned his skin and melted like tears on his face. The men on Izaya didn’t even seem to notice him as he approached. A few solid punches sent the men flying, but Shizuo wasn’t done with them yet. He stalked up to his prey, kicking and punching blindly. He didn’t hear the screams, or the begging. He didn’t hear the electric voice excitedly stating how many he had left.

         Once his anger had settled a bit, he walked back over to the flea. It hurt him to watch the once proud man struggling desperately against his own knife in his hands, bleeding onto the white snow and staining it red. The snow was smoking slightly, evaporating because of the hot blood that spilled onto the freezing surface. Leaning down, Shizuo pried his eyes off the blood. It was difficult not to stare at the red that painted the fleas thighs, but Shizuo turned away anyway.

          “I’m sorry, this is gonna hurt a lot.” Shizuo murmured to the struggling man beneath him. It was like when you pinned a butterfly to a cork board. It’s wings fluttering uselessly in an attempt to free itself. Izaya was no butterfly, however. He was smarter, darker, more beautiful in his own way. He was like a bat, Shizuo decided. A bat stuck in a trap meant for something much bigger than itself. With a deep breath Shizuo grasped the knife pinning the informants hands down, ripping it out in one smooth motion. He could tell the flea wanted to scream; to cry; but his cries stuck in his throat. No sounds could escape lips so tightly sealed. Huge red eyes stared at Shizuo for a moment. They reminded Shizuo of some stones he had seen on a trip when he was younger. Carnelian or something. The eyes weren’t quite crimson, but definitely weren’t brown either. They held depth that Shizuo could never hope of for his own eyes; and right now they screamed fear. The fear twisted in a horrific dance with confusion and something Shizuo couldn’t quite register. It was only a moment, but it seemed to last for years. Izaya ripped his gaze away and struggled to cover himself with his now filthy jeans. Once the task was completed, Izaya went slack, his face and eyes losing emotion before he started falling back to the ground. Shizuo reached forward and caught him easily, not missing how light the flea was.

 

        The first thing Izaya saw when he pried open his tired eyes was a mass of orange and yellow. It radiated heat and it took a moment for Izaya to register it as a fire. He shifted his eyes around, staring at the stone walls that surrounded him. His tired gaze finally settled on a certain bodyguard. He was confused for a moment, squinting his eyes as he thought. Memories from the last day rushed back to him and his auburn eyes widened. Tears threatened to spill as he remembered, a strangled cry releasing from his throat and failing at his lips. Izaya squeezed terrified eyes closed, unpleasant thoughts reaching at him and pulling him under.

_You’re too pretty for a guy_

**_Come here honey_ **

_Anyone could mistake you for a girl_

**_Don’t walk away from me you whore!_ **

_Turn ‘im over_

**_I’m sorry babe, it’ll never happen again_ **

**_You deserved it, though_ **

**_Look at me!_ **

**_Don’t ignore me!_ **

**_You bitch, shut up! I said shut up!_ **

**_You’ve forgotten your place, babe, I’ll have to show you._ **

      “Izaya!”

    A shout brought him back to the present, his eyes snapping back open. Shizuo was way too close for comfort, shaking him lightly. The brutes touch was gentle, as if he was scared of breaking the bat beneath him. Izaya’s chest was heaving and sweat poured down his face. His nose was running, but whether it was from the cold or something else he didn’t know. He struggled to calm his breathing. Every breath tore through his chest like a bullet; a sure sign something was wrong in that area.

         “I don’t need you’re pity.” Izaya tried to say, remembering all too late the stitched holding his mouth shut. The attempt at words tore at the skin, and fresh blood poured down his chin.

         Shizuo was at a loss for words. When he had turned to check on the flea, he had been hyperventilating and tears had been running down his cheeks freely. Shizuo had never imagined he’d see the flea like this. He seemed so fragile, so broken. It killed Shizuo. He didn’t know that seeing the informant in such away would bring such negative emotions to the surface.When muffled sounds tore at the stitches holding the flea’s mouth shut; he realized how much Izaya must be suffering. He was stripped of everything. His knives used against him, his words taken from him; Izaya really didn’t have much more than that. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around the smaller man. The beast handled the flea gently, knowing at least one rib had been broken in the struggle. Izaya froze in his arms. It wasn’t long before Shizuo felt small sobs wracking the smaller mans body and his shoulder began to get wet from tears. It made the beast wonder. How long had it been since Izaya had been shown any act of kindness? The flea didn’t seem to have any friends. If you counted Shinra, there certainly wasn’t any touching other than medical going on there. Izaya did have a secretary, though, right? Then again he couldn’t see the flea getting cuddly with someone who worked for him. So how long had it been?

How long since the flea had been allowed to live freely?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My new story will be up tomorrow!
> 
> Uncalled for is going to be more canon-typical with minor gang violence. There's gonna be some shit that goes down, but not as intense as this one is what I'm trying to say.
> 
> じゃね〜  
> Dot


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys guess what. I wrote this whole thing on my phone. In notes. Do I hate myself? Yes. Am I getting home so I can use a computer again soon? Yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anyhow just be prepared for a short, horribly written chapter bc I got frustrated with notes.

       Izaya hated it. He hated the tears that leaked from his eyes and he hated the small sobs that shook his tired body. Each rumbling sob was hell; each strangled breath in another knife to his broken form. The pain just made him cry harder, and thus the self hate increased. He wasn't quite sure why he had started crying; something about the warm heat enveloping him in a loose mockery of a hug had just _killed_ him inside. It was in this moment that Izaya realized just how lonely he really was. Who cried at a hug? Who cried because the person they hated most in the world had hugged them? Why was Shizuo hugging him? They hated each other; this wasn't supposed to happen. Pushing Shizuo away as best he could without straining his broken body he tried his best to quell the waves of tears that welled in his eyes.

      _Why?_ His mind screamed. Why had Shizuo carried him here? They weren't attached anymore. He could have let Izaya die out in the snow if he wanted. Why had Shizuo attempted to comfort him? None of it made sense. Reason didn't appear to be a thing here. It tore at everything Izaya had ever known. His platform, his throne, his kingdom, had been ripped out from under him the moment he landed in this cold dark hell. And so he asked why. He screamed it. He yelled it as loud as he possibly could. But no noise escaped his throat. No words formed at his sealed lips. Because he couldn't scream. He couldn't yell. He couldn't just _fucking ask why_. Anger frothed in his chest, turning very quickly into an emotion he hadn't experienced in years. Despair. How could Shizuo answer a question that was never asked? Even when the question burned his mind, marred his still tongue, and prickled in his veins.

     Shizuo seemed to understand that he didn't want to be held and unwrapped his arms from the Raven. He didn't answer though. He didn't know what had been asked. The fire had died down, and cold had once again begun to seep into the bones of the two men. Adding a few more of the sticks he had gathered to the fire, Shizuo settled down a few feet away from the Raven.

     “You should get some more sleep, your body will heal more when you're asleep,” Shizuo noted, more to fill the silence than anything else. Izaya had the facial expression of someone who had just seen a butterfly be crushed; but Shizuo couldn't begin to understand what was going on in that terrifying mind of his. Dried blood stained Izaya’s chin, his frame bending in at some points where bones had broken. Where his hands had been impaled Shizuo had wrapped some of the cloth from his own shirt, knowing Izaya would kill him if he had used his. Shizuo’s own ankles and hands were bare, the blood dry in some places and still staining the ground in others. His ankle was the worst, with the white of bone showing in some places. Shizuo couldn't feel it very much, so he didn't care. His neck burned from the shocks and he could still smell the sickening stench of burnt skin emanating from the area. Looking back at Izaya, he could see the smaller man had laid down gently once more, and appeared to be trying to sleep. With a small sigh Shizuo hefted himself to his feet, limping unsteadily to the entrance to the cave. Sitting back down with a huff, the beast silently prepared himself for another few hours without sleep as he kept guard over the small cave they now resided in.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry  
> shit went down  
> I'll explain at the end of the chapter

Chapter 9

Shizuo blinked his eyes open, vision blurry. His body was pleasantly warm, and he smiled slightly. He was aware of a dull pain in his ankles, but he was rarely not in pain, so he ignored it. He slipped his tired eyes closed once again, drifting through the darkness behind his lids. Then he remembered. He remembered where he was, and the terrible things that he and Izaya had been through. The memories came in a series of snapshots so quick that he could have ignored them if he was more ignorant. Snapping his eyes back open, he was met with the little droid that had been following them around lately. It stared at him with a bright lens, somehow still clean despite the harshness of this terrain. It hummed lightly, the sound a machine makes when overheating. Shizuo reached out to bat it out of his line of sight, but it ducked and vroomed away. The fire had died down slightly, but still provided an overwhelming warmth. Izaya was still asleep as far as he could tell, his breath rattling as it held in his chest before releasing. Shizuo cringed and turned away at the sight. Looking down, he saw his ankles were slowly oozing blood and a strange yellow puss Shizuo recognised as infection. The scarlet petals fell slowly from their stem, taking their time as they dropped to the ground, leaving trails like roots down the pale sky from which they were born. For a moment Shizuo saw the flowers he compared the blood to blooming from the broken skin of his ankles. He shook his head, blinking at the strange comparison. Give him any more time out here, and he might turn into Izaya.

Deciding to scout the area a bit as long as he can’t sleep, Shizuo crawled to the entrance of the cave, the early morning sunrise bathing him in its soft light. The cold was the first this to hit him, a shock after the warmth inside their temporary abode. Even in the little light, the snow reflecting the sunrise hurt his eyes and made him squint. He mourned silently for his lost sunglasses. There seemed to be nothing around, no one. Only thick green evergreens and snow as far as the eye could see. A few hundred feet Shizuo could see the remnants of the struggle the day before, the snow disturbed and painted with too much red. Something winked in the sun, reflecting in a way separate from the diamond snow. Shizuo remembered the knife and hurried to make his way over. He fell the first time he tried to stand, ankles screaming in protest, but he got up again. He had gotten hurt worse, he thought; this was nothing. The beast made his way over quickly, his eyes falling upon the object. His heart sank when it was not the knife, but a small silver ring he recognised as Izaya’s. The blood stunk terribly, and Shizuo didn’t want to stay for very long, so he grabbed it and made a short sweep for the knife, finding nothing. Promptly he shuffled through the freezing snow back to the cave.

Pain echoed in every crevice of his body, clawing at his fragile soul like a cat at a mouse. It played with him, one moment biting in so deep he wanted to scream, and the next releasing and sending him flying through the sky only to fall back into the terrible grasp. His eyes cracked open, first registering the raven locks that fell over his eyes. Izaya was used to waking up in odd places in pain, but the pain was never this high, nor the place so strange. He hadn’t forgotten the struggle and had spent the night mostly in all consuming nightmares of his past. With a strangled groan that caught behind his closed lips and turned into more of a hum, he forced himself to sit up, avoiding placing his hands on the ground. A shuffling at the entrance captured his attention, and he turned to see Shizuo struggling into the cave, holding something loosely in his palm. Izaya tilted his head, questioning like a puppy would. How disgusting, he thought, to be lowered to the status of a dog before Shizu-chan. Shizuo looked up at him, his eyes widening as if he didn’t expect Izaya to be awake.

“I found this over...there,” He stated quietly, opening his palms to reveal a small silver ring that Izaya recognised immediately. Panic flared in his chest when he looked down to find it no longer on his finger. The small scar usually is hidden underneath stared back up at him, a constant reminder of affiliations he didn’t like to think about. Shizuo came closer, looking at the finger in curiosity. “What’s that scar from?” He asked, reaching out to point like the dumb oaf he was. Izaya turned away, slightly offended Shizuo would ask but also hurt that he forgot of Izaya’s inability to answer. Snatching the ring back Izaya slipped it over the scar, hiding it from view. He sighed through his nose, deciding as much as he hated it, he owed Shizuo at least this. If they were to survive, they would have to know each other inside and out. Motioning for Shizuo to follow, he struggled to the front of the cave. With shaking hands, he leant out to the snow and began to write. When you get initiated into the yakuza, you get marked. _Sometimes they're small, a simple cut, and other times.._ he paused, _bigger..like a tattoo._ His writing was shaky, and little droplets of blood stained the snow around it, but Shizuo seemed to be able to read nonetheless. The brutes brow creased, anger apparent in his face. Most likely questioning why Izaya would ever join such shady organisations in the first place. Probably thinking about how much the flea pissed him off. How simple.

“So you have small ones, but you’re part of many gangs, right? Wouldn’t you have a big one as well?” Shizuo opened his mouth and spewed bullshit, as usual. Izaya stiffened, not keen to explain. He took a deep breath through his nose, nodding slowly. He stared at Shizuo, praying the man wouldn’t ask to see. The thing was a matter of shame for Izaya, a dirty, forced thing that was done against his will. It brought back painful memories and the dark times of his teen-hood when he was still so stupid and naïve. “Well, where is it then? I’ve never seen it,” And just like that, Izaya’s fate was sealed. With a shaky breath, Izaya averted his eyes. With pained movements, he lifted the corner of his shirt up. His raven hair hid his face as his chest slowly came into view. The skin was covered in purple bruises and dents were ribs should have been, clear signs of the struggle yesterday. But what Shizuo’s eyes were drawn to was the huge scar that sliced through the left side of Izaya’s chest. It cut a beautiful tattoo of a tiger in half, the words ‘ _Awakusu-kai_ ’ barely recognisable under the scar tissue. “You cut it in half...” Shizuo stated, dumbfounded at this discovery. Izaya let his shirt fall once more, his face was still hidden. His body was radiating pain, and he only wanted to sleep again. Shizuo seemed to sense this and didn’t pursue the matter further. Later, he thought, then I’ll ask. And just like that, the two went back into the cave, Shizuo going to get some of the hanging meat left over from the other men with the intention to cook it. Izaya slipped back into unconsciousness, anger and angsty dreams invading his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. I got back to America. When I went to school, I was presented through a series of circumstances the opportunity to write a real book. Like a real, published, honto book. I had to make the choice between this and that. I chose that. I don't feel the need to explain my choice. Unfortunetly, the opportunity has now gone, so I have returned.


End file.
